San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
’Tis the season to add festive outdoor lights
Christmastime is not here yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early to think about decorating your house. Dazzling light displays have been known to lift people’s spirits— something many of us need right now. So, if Christmas lights are among your favorite things about the season, now is a good time to decide if you want to add some holiday pizzazz to your house. If you don’t want to get out the ladder and do it yourself, San Antonio has several companies that will install the lights and décor for you. Steven Meyer, branch manager for ABC Home & Commercial Services in San Antonio, and Jesse Soto, lawn division manager, recently talked about the Christmas and holiday lighting services the company provides. This year the company has partnered with Ronald McDonald House Charities for a special promotion. Every time a new customer has lights installed; ABC will donate $20 to the charity.
Q: How long has ABC been installing Christmas and holiday lights?
Meyer:
We started 10 years ago. Most people think of us as a pest control business and we ventured into the lawn side of things. We actually do much more now. We can do HVAC, plumbing, handyman, window cleaning, tree trimming and appliance repair. We had a few house guests that wanted holiday lights and it started from there. It’s a little bit different business than what we typically do, but it spreads a lot of joy to all the customers.
Q: What’s the first thing people should do if they want lights installed?
Meyer: They can simply call our office and we’ll schedule a design specialist to come out and look at their house. The design specialist will go over what the customer is looking for and advise them on what we think would be best. They pick out what colors they want, what type of lights they want. If they want wreaths, roofline, groundcover, trees, whatever they want lit up. We’ll come with a custom design for themand go over pricing and options.
Q: What do most people in San Antonio want to have done?
Meyer: Roofline is probably the most popular, second would be trees. We’ll wrap trees. Oak trees look really good, getting all the branches out can be really time-consuming for individuals to do on their own. The roofline, trees, wreaths and garland to decorate the home a little more.
Q: If someone wants lights installed ASAP, how long will it take to get an appointment?
Soto: I can tell you right now turnaround is probably two or three days.
Meyer: We offer 5 percent discounts to do lights before Thanksgiving because everyone wants lights right after Thanksgiving and we run out of time to do them. So, we really push to get them done in November. If you call us right before Thanksgiving, it might be a week or more before we get out there.
Q: What can people expect to pay? Meyer: It really depends, the first year, you must purchase lights from ABC. We don’t put up customer’s lights because we can’t give a warranty for them. We don’t know how old they are. So, we warranty all of our lights. We put themup and we come to take them down in January or February. And then the next year, it’s just labor, so the first year is definitely more expensive. A minimum is about $500. We had someone last year spend close to $20,000. It was a really big house with tons of trees. Trees are a little more expensive because it’s just a lot of lights. I’d say for the first year, the average is about $1,000 to S1,500. That’s buying all the lights, putting them up, taking them down, and packing them up for you. And that includes a warranty so if a light goes out, we’ll come out and replace it free of charge.
Q: Is a deposit required?
Meyer: We typically do at least half down. Normally we require payment before doing the job.
Q: Have you already installed lights around town?
Meyer: We’ve probably done a hundred customers or so already.
Q: Where do you do most of the installations?
Soto: The Stone Oak area, Helotes, Boerne
Q: Do you install permanent lights?
Soto: We do have customers who want those types of lights that can stay on yearround, however, those are not going to have a warranty due to the fact that squirrels or rodents can get bite them. So, we do have to go out and repair them sometimes, and obviously, that’s an additional cost for labor.
Yes, that’s is correct. They are all commercial grade LED. Custom-fit to each home so you don’t see wires hanging all over the place. LEDs are much cheaper obviously and much more energy efficient.
Q: Are colored lights more expensive? Soto: No, they’re all the same price.
Q: Does someone have to be home for you to do the install?
Soto: No, customers do not have to be home.
Q: Do you anticipate more business this year because of COVID-19?
Meyer: Yes, 2020 has had its ups and downs. Of course, you had a lot more downs than ups at times. So, we hope we can spread some cheer by lighting up neighborhoods.
the past few months, the Homestead lifestyle director planned several fun activities for residents to enjoy – food truck nights, cocktail kits to take home or enjoy at the outdoor pavilion, and STEMLifestyle Busy Kits for the kids – to name a few.
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Located in Schertz, just 15 minutes from downtown San Antonio, New Braunfels, and Randolph AFB, residents can get to work or head out to play with an abundance of activities nearby. Children attend the highly-regarded Schertz-Cibolo University City Independent School District, with nearby elementary, intermediate, junior, and high schools. The district is also distinguished by being part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma program, considered the most prestigious public curricula in America. The district also intends to construct an elementary school within the Homestead community in the future.
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